Chancellor Philip Hammond declared in his November Budget that fully driverless cars will be on Britain's roads by 2021.

However, a new report from the the capital's law makers says London - an expected leader in the field - 'faces a difficult challenge' to accommodate autonomous vehicles, claiming it won't be ready for self-driving cars until 2030 at the earliest.

It said the major hurdles the city faces lie with a lack of consumer trust, high costs and an unprepared infrastructure.

You're CAVing a laugh, Mr Chancellor: The London Assembly Transport Committee said Philip Hammond's plans for connected and autonomous vehicles to be on the road by 2021 in Britain were optimistic

London is expected to be a national leader in the adoption of future transport.

It said: 'In our meeting on this topic with a range of experts there was a broad consensus that the widespread rollout of advanced CAVs - for instance, cars without a steering wheel - was more likely to occur over the period from 2030 onwards.'

The review of the capital's readiness for driverless cars was supported by various pieces of research, though one of the most influential was from Natasha Merat, a transport expert working at the University of Leeds.

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She said the capital was not yet prepared for autonomous vehicles to become mainstream because of a range of factors beyond the technology itself.

When asked if the cars could be seen on London roads as soon as 2021, as signalled by Mr Hammond, she replied: 'I would say much later for a fully automated vehicle that can take me from A to B and I do not have to intervene.

'I am thinking more like 2030 to 2040 because the issues around acceptability, trust, uptake, affordability, infrastructure, availability, connectivity and so on.'

In November, the Chancellor promised a £500 million investment into the wider tech industry to help fast track regulations.

Nissan has been testing its autonomous technology on roads in the capital

The Chancellor promised a £40 million injection in funding for the advancement of driverless technology in his latest Budget statement

However, this latest report says the introduction of driverless cars into the level of congestion in London would bring the city to a standstill.

'Although CAVs could use road space more efficiently, there are still concerns about their impact on the transport network,' the report said.

'These concerns are mainly related to the behavioural choices that Londoners may make if and when the technology becomes available.

'Put simply, people who currently drive very little or not at all may decide to take advantage of CAVs by travelling in cars more often.

'If this happens on a large scale, this would mean CAVs may contribute to traffic congestion, and/or prevent a hoped-for shift towards more sustainable transport modes.'

Westminster council added that the autonomous cars were the 'greatest challenge' the mayor faces, as they are likely to increase driving, congestion, short-term pollution and reduce the number of people utilising public transport as well as cycling and walking.

The report suggested the best way to introduce the technology to the capital's roads was via car sharing platforms, thus limiting the number of vehicles entering the network.